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| Jeff Flake becomes latest Republican critic of Trump to quit Senate | Jeff Flake becomes latest Republican critic of Trump to quit Senate |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Another key Republican critic of Donald Trump announced he was leaving the Senate on Tuesday, stating there was no room for him in the party under the current president’s stewardship. | Another key Republican critic of Donald Trump announced he was leaving the Senate on Tuesday, stating there was no room for him in the party under the current president’s stewardship. |
| Jeff Flake of Arizona joins a list of high-profile Republicans who have jumped ship in recent months amid the turmoil of Trump’s presidency. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, declared his retirement last month and has since been locked in a bitter feud with Trump that reached new heights on Tuesday, hours before Flake’s announcement. | Jeff Flake of Arizona joins a list of high-profile Republicans who have jumped ship in recent months amid the turmoil of Trump’s presidency. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, declared his retirement last month and has since been locked in a bitter feud with Trump that reached new heights on Tuesday, hours before Flake’s announcement. |
| Flake said he would retire at the end of his term in 2018. | Flake said he would retire at the end of his term in 2018. |
| “There may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican party,” Flake told the Arizona Republic. | “There may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican party,” Flake told the Arizona Republic. |
| Flake was one of the few Republican senators who declined to endorse Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Earlier this year, he published a book framing the rise of Trump as a moment of reckoning for the Republican party. | Flake was one of the few Republican senators who declined to endorse Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Earlier this year, he published a book framing the rise of Trump as a moment of reckoning for the Republican party. |
| Speaking on the Senate floor as news of his retirement broke, Flake said: “It is time for our complicity and our accommodation for the unacceptable to end. | Speaking on the Senate floor as news of his retirement broke, Flake said: “It is time for our complicity and our accommodation for the unacceptable to end. |
| “There are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles. Now is such a time,” Flake said. | “There are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles. Now is such a time,” Flake said. |
| “We must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that that is just the way things are now.” | “We must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that that is just the way things are now.” |
| Although Flake had raised millions for his re-election campaign, his criticism of Trump loomed over what was poised to be a tough primary against rightwing challengers that included Kelli Ward, the former Arizona state senator who failed to unseat John McCain in November. Ward had dubbed Flake’s refusal to endorse Trump in the 2016 campaign “treacherous”. | Although Flake had raised millions for his re-election campaign, his criticism of Trump loomed over what was poised to be a tough primary against rightwing challengers that included Kelli Ward, the former Arizona state senator who failed to unseat John McCain in November. Ward had dubbed Flake’s refusal to endorse Trump in the 2016 campaign “treacherous”. |
| Amplifying pressure from the right, Trump met with some of Flake’s potential challengers ahead of a rally in Phoenix in August and subsequently attacked the senator on Twitter, writing: “Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!” | Amplifying pressure from the right, Trump met with some of Flake’s potential challengers ahead of a rally in Phoenix in August and subsequently attacked the senator on Twitter, writing: “Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!” |
| Flake was a co-author of a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013 that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US. He also differed from Trump on trade, but ultimately told the Arizona Republican his decision to leave the Senate was a moral choice. | Flake was a co-author of a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013 that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US. He also differed from Trump on trade, but ultimately told the Arizona Republican his decision to leave the Senate was a moral choice. |
| “Here’s the bottom line: the path that I would have to travel to get the Republican nomination is a path I’m not willing to take, and that I can’t in good conscience take,” Flake said. “It would require me to believe in positions I don’t hold on such issues as trade and immigration and it would require me to condone behavior that I cannot condone.” | “Here’s the bottom line: the path that I would have to travel to get the Republican nomination is a path I’m not willing to take, and that I can’t in good conscience take,” Flake said. “It would require me to believe in positions I don’t hold on such issues as trade and immigration and it would require me to condone behavior that I cannot condone.” |
| Political operatives in Washington were surprised by Flake’s announcement, which followed a slew of similar decisions from Republicans in swing states. | Political operatives in Washington were surprised by Flake’s announcement, which followed a slew of similar decisions from Republicans in swing states. |
| Several Republicans serving in the House of Representatives have announced plans to retire, including David Trott of Michigan, David Reichert of Washington, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, leaving an opening for Democrats in competitive districts. | Several Republicans serving in the House of Representatives have announced plans to retire, including David Trott of Michigan, David Reichert of Washington, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, leaving an opening for Democrats in competitive districts. |
| By contrast, at least one moderate Republican voice, Senator Susan Collins, has said she will seek re-election in Maine. | By contrast, at least one moderate Republican voice, Senator Susan Collins, has said she will seek re-election in Maine. |
| Alex Conant, a partner at Firehouse Strategies who worked on Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, said it was a “troubling trend” for reliable conservatives like Flake to feel as though they no longer had a place in the Republican party. | Alex Conant, a partner at Firehouse Strategies who worked on Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, said it was a “troubling trend” for reliable conservatives like Flake to feel as though they no longer had a place in the Republican party. |
| “It’s no secret that there’s a lot of divisions within the Republican party right now. A lot of Republican leaders are uncomfortable with the direction that Trump is leading us,” Conant said. | “It’s no secret that there’s a lot of divisions within the Republican party right now. A lot of Republican leaders are uncomfortable with the direction that Trump is leading us,” Conant said. |
| “Populism, nationalism, global isolation … these are not traditional Republican principles. Many, if not most, Republican lawmakers are struggling to navigate the current political environment.” | “Populism, nationalism, global isolation … these are not traditional Republican principles. Many, if not most, Republican lawmakers are struggling to navigate the current political environment.” |
| Several prominent Republicans have spoken out, albeit in veiled terms, against so-called “Trumpism” in recent weeks. McCain, who represents Arizona alongside Flake in the Senate, denounced “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in a speech last week that also decried the abdication of US leadership on the global stage. Days later, George W Bush condemned bigotry while declaring American politics “more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication”. | |
| On Tuesday, Trump’s feud with Corker broke out in unprecedented fashion ahead of a meeting between the president and Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill. Prior to the closed-door luncheon, Corker branded Trump as an “utterly untruthful president” on NBC’s Today Show. | |
| In a separate interview with CNN, Corker went even further, stating of the president: “I don’t know why he lowers himself to such a low, low standard and debases our country in that way but he does.” | |
| Corker and Flake’s decisions to step aside leaves room for Republicans to run new candidates who might be less tarnished by the toxicity of Trump’s tenure. But it also removes two strong, household names from seats being eyed as potential pickups by Democrats, who are seeking to regain control of a Republican-led Congress. | |
| Further complicating Republicans’ prospects is the movement launched by Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, to take down incumbents perceived by the base as insufficient in their support of the president’s agenda. A Bannon ally celebrated the news of Flake’s retirement, texting the Guardian: “Another scalp!” | |
| Senate Leadership Fund, the Super Pac dedicated to preserving the Republican majority in the upper chamber, instead argued that Flake’s decision undermined Bannon’s war with the Republican establishment. | |
| “The one political upshot of Sen Flake’s decision today is that Steve Bannon’s hand-picked candidate, conspiracy-theorist Kelli Ward, will not be the Republican nominee for this Senate seat in 2018,” the group’s president and CEO Steven Law said in a statement. | |
| In his Senate floor speech, Flake implored Republicans to do away with the political considerations that have enabled Trump to challenge to norms of governance and basic decorum. | |
| “We must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal,” Flake said. | |
| “When we remain silent and fail to act ... because of political considerations, because we might make enemies, because we might alienate the base,” he added, “we dishonor our principles and forsake our obligations.” | |
| Additional reporting by Ben Jacobs |